Turkish State Terror and Genocide in Silvan

Silvan Resistance is for Kurdish Freedom, Everyone Must Embrace It

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş spoke to Med Nuçe TV about the current situation in Silvan district of Amed (Diyarbakir).

Demirtaş described the Silvan resistance as “a fight to determine the status of the Kurdish people” and emphasised that everyone should see this as the reality.

The HDP co-chair said the offensive in Silvan by the Turkish state is the heaviest one conducted in the Kurdish region so far, adding; “The town is surrounded by armored vehicles and reports are coming through of strikes by helicopters. This is not a matter of ‘a police operation for the sake of public order’. There is an urban war that the Turkish military is also participating in, in addition to police forces. Army troops are now joining the operation alongside police forces after a short while of hesitation over entering the town centre.”

‘THERE IS A POPULAR RESISTANCE IN SİLVAN’

Demirtaş said the people of Silvan are putting up meaningful and brave resistance against the state’s attacks. He said everyone should support this popular resistance which he described as more glorious than the offensive.

Emphasising that the situation in Silvan is not a local case, Demirtaş said; “We are going through a process that will determine the fate of the century year old Kurdish and Kurdistan question and status of Kurds. The resistance in Silvan is not related with a local matter as it is rather a stance and fight for the free future of the Kurdish people.”

The HDP co-chair noted that the fate of Rojava also depends on the status of Kurds in Turkey, adding; “A people’s insistence for free life and status needs to be seen. The Kurdish people’s insistence for this cause is also the reason why the AKP is becoming so cruel.”

According to Demirtaş, it is the AKP itself that terrorises the people after labelling an entire people that fights for their future as terrorist.

‘WE ARE READY TO RESIST WITH OUR PEOPLE TILL THE END’

Remarking that the HDP is “ready to resist together with the people till the end”, Demirtaş underlined that self-rule is a basic legitimate right, adding; “The Kurdish people will not take any backward steps. Now that one single person declares himself to be the Executive President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) and announces a regime change, the demand of millions of people cannot be treated as terrorism. The people of Silvan are protecting and defending their will and the Kurdish people’s right to self-rule and autonomy. This demand is part of our party program which stands by the resistance of the Kurdish people.”

‘A BLOC MUST BE FORMED AGAINST THE WAR FRONT’

The HDP co-chair emphasised the importance of forming a bloc against the war front, remarking that the Republican People’s Party (CHP) primarily must make its stance clear regarding the fundamental demands of the Kurdish people.

He added that they will meet the leaders of some political parties during the coming days to discuss the establishment of a democracy bloc.

Young women defending Silvan: We will resist until freedom

November 11, 2015
AMED – ANF – SEDAT SUR

Youths leading the resistance in three neighborhoods under intense attack by Turkish security forces in Silvan, vowed that their resistance will continue until freedom on the basis of the goal to create free areas against atrocity.

Young women Ekin Fırat and Rodi Amed, who are among those leading the popular resistance in Silvan’s Mescit neighborhood, spoke to ANF regarding their struggle and purpose.

‘WE RESIST THE STATE ATROCITY’

Ekin Fırat: I joined this resistance as a woman standing against the chains of slavery generated by the system on the people. The state is attacking and killing our people here with its tanks, artillery weapons. We are here to serve as a self-defense force but our civilian people are also resisting here alongside us.

The history has never written about the atrocity suffered by the Kurdish people in the hands of the Turkish state. Our goal is not to dig trenches alone, but rather to show that we could triumph over the state’s techniques by means of trenches which form a defense against the attacks targeting our people. These are areas where we protect our people from the state’s atrocity. These are areas where we produce solutions to problems not settled by the state.

‘THE ATROCITY DOESN’T TARGET ONLY SİLVAN PEOPLE’

The atrocity committed here doesn’t target only Silvan people, it is also aimed at all the women around the world. We therefore call upon all women to support and embrace this resistance.

We want it to be known very well that our goal is not to split the country. We want a together and free living of Turkish and Kurdish peoples on these lands, and a together waging of the two flags.

‘WE WILL RULE OURSELVES’

Rodi Amed: I am from this folk, a civilian and not affiliated to an organisation. I am just a resident of this neighborhood that demands an end to the state atrocity against the people. We and our people want to rule ourselves and lead a life on a free and democratic basis.

‘RESISTANCE WILL LAST UNTIL FREEDOM’

One other thing we demand is liberation of our Leader (Abdullah Öcalan). We will not give up the fight nor fill the trenches until he is liberated and comes back near us.

HDP calls for urgent action for Silvan

“We have no time to lose as the developments are getting to a point of no return”, HDP said, and called everyone to step up solidarity with Silvan in order for peace and justice to prevail.

November 11, 2015 1:25 PM
AMED – ANF

The Central Executive Board of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has released a statement calling for urgent solidarity with Silvan district of Amed where a heavy military operation in civilian areas is going on since early this morning, on the ninth day of the curfew.

Pointing to the ongoing repression of Turkish state forces in Silvan for almost two months now, HDP recalled that the curfew currently in effect is the sixth one imposed in the district recently, and called attention to the reports of casualties as a result of today’s ongoing attacks, from both the air and the ground.

Remarking that the offensive has greatly damaged many houses and workplaces and all means of communication are restricted in Silvan, HDP statement noted that the operation in the district is being conducted with a large number of snipers, special operation and gendarme teams, soldiers, helicopters, armored vehicles, artillery weaponry and tanks that shell the neighborhoods from hills.

HDP emphasised that the state atrocity and violence in the district is getting heavier, adding that the party deputies in the district also remain under a growing threat.

HDP said the offensive is being conducted against the people that protect their will, defend their rights and fight for their legitimate and fair right for self-rule, freedom and equality. “This most democratic demand of the people cannot be suppressed by means of tanks and atrocity. The offensive in Silvan and other Kurdish towns is not a fight against terrorism but operations aiming to intimidate and suppress the people.”

Describing the silence in western Turkey as pretty concerning, HDP said the people of the country remain silent and deaf to the voices raising from Silvan and all other villages, streets and towns in the Kurdish region. HDP underlined that it is becoming more difficult and also more important every day to voice a joint call for peace and fraternity of peoples.

The Central Executive Board of HDP continued by calling upon all the peoples, democracy forces, NGOs and political parties in Turkey to make sure that a way be found out of the current situation, which -it warned- will otherwise end up in huge disasters.

“We have no time to lose as the developments are getting to a point of no return”, the HDP statement said and called everyone to step up solidarity in order for peace and justice to prevail.

The Central Executive Board of Peoples’ Democratic Party ended its statement by urging the government to stop the operations, respect the will of the Kurdish people and treat the problems on the basis of negotiations.

Reports of casualties after helicopter attack in Silvan

November 11, 2015
AMED – ANF

Reports are coming through that Turkish helicopters have conducted an air strike on Tekel, Konak and Mescit neighborhoods of Amed’s Silvan district.

While the bomb attack has reportedly left casualties, no proper information can be received from the neighborhoods as all the means of communication have been restricted amid a heavy siege by police and military forces.

In the meantime, special operation police keep making announcements from armored vehicles and mosques, saying; “Evacuate the neighborhoods, otherwise we will shoot you all”.

Silvan Deputy Mayor Zuhal Tekiner said the helicopter activity continues and they cannot receive any information from Azizoğlu Square in Mescit neighborhood where an intensified aerial attack has targeted civilians.

We are being killed but will never surrender

AMED – ANF – SEDAT SUR

People in Silvan district of Amed warned against an imminent ‘social explosion’ in the event that the siege and attacks by Turkish state forces continue. Residents of the district vowed that they will continue the resistance and never surrender as the curfew and offensive leaves eight days behind.

Eight civilians have been killed and dozens of houses have been burned down by ‘security forces’ during this period.

Melek Yaman, Sevim Meygil, Kudret Kırtay, Ferhat Binen and Orhan Yazkan from Silvan spoke to ANF about the situation in the district under attack.

‘WE WILL REMAIN NEITHER UNRESPONSIVE NOR SILENT’

Sevim Meygil: We will remain neither unresponsive nor silent while state forces are raiding our houses, detaining our children and torturing us every day. Our people are left with no choice other than rising up and revolting. People of Silvan are at the point of a social explosion. What else can the state do to us now that it already murders, tortures and jails us all? This atrocity by the state is not something new. We have been suffering the same thing for the past several months. We witnessed similar mass killings before. The state has pushed us into depression. We do not know what else to say.

‘SİLVAN WILL ALSO TRIUMPH LIKE KOBANÊ’

Melek Yaman: The state does anything possible to us, killing our children, setting our houses on fire. Yet, we will never surrender. We will continue following the path of our children, martyrs and their memories, and will never give up on our cause.

A Minister said ‘we will erase three neighborhoods of Silvan from the map’. Let them do whatever they can. We have nothing to fear as they already subject us to any kind of atrocity. Their aim is to clear these areas of Kurdish people. We will respond to them by resisting and never leaving our lands, even if it costs us our lives or some other consequences. We will refuse to surrender and we will follow our Leader until one single person is left alive. They cannot end us by killing. We are united and strong. Erdoğan should know that Kurds will never surrender to him. He was saying that Kobanê was about to fall, but Kobanê resisted and triumphed. Silvan will do the same. They cannot finish off Cizre, Silvan or Qandil. If thousands of us die, they will be replaced by other thousands. We came through numerous hardships so far and we will get over this in the same way.

‘OUR MOSQUES ARE BEING BOMBED’

Kudret Kırtay: Erdoğan claims himself to be a Muslim. What sort of an Islam is this? They are killing our children once they look out of the window. This is our land, our home. Erdoğan is killing us in our land. Those claiming to be Muslim are bombing our mosques. This is not what Islam is. The Turkish state gives us and our children no right to live. We are being killed in and outside our houses. Erdoğan is a tyrant. If he is a Muslim, he is supposed to stop this massacre and bloodshed. They are protecting their own children and dragging the children of the people to death.

‘IF SILVAN BURNS, SO WILL THE WEST’

Ferhat Binen: We are at the point of a social explosion and cannot tolerate it anymore. There is a martial law across Silvan for more than a week now, not only in three neighborhoods. State forces shot and killed the people in a coffee house. Our people are being subject to insults, threats and repression everywhere in addition to the attacks with heavy weaponry. 25 houses have been burned down and more are being demolished in the same way. Nobody can possibly put up with all these.

A Turkish official said three neighborhoods of Silvan will be erased from the map. In order to do that, he will need to erase the entire Silvan territory. Yet, Silvan, Amed, Istanbul are all connected to each other. If Silvan burns, so will the western part of Turkey. There will be all-out reactions if this siege doesn’t end.

‘SİLVAN MUST BE EMBRACED’

Orhan Yazkan: There is a bare massacre and atrocity being committed against the people here. A solution must be developed to end this offensive. The mainstream media doesn’t report about Silvan. The incidents here are being hidden from the people in the west. Silvan must be embraced.